Richard Harrison England, b. 1954
Richard Harrison was born in Liverpool in 1954. He read Medieval History at Cambridge University and then received BA and MA Fine Art degrees in Painting from Chelsea School of Art. The critic Brian Sewell was an early champion of Harrison's work. He recognised its committed, insistent nature and described the artist as 'a visionary prophet' and his paintings as 'big, bold, beautiful and threatening'.
His abstract landscapes are rich in colour and texture with generous lashings of paint, which ebb and flow on the canvas reflecting turbulence and often violent upheaval. Harrison's paintings are awesome in scale; their content exaggerated by the vigorous and robust handling of voluminous layers of paint adeptly manipulated to create a dynamic expression of form and colour which resonate all-over the canvas thus underpinning the powerful emotional and visionary themes ever present in the artist's compositions. The artist strives for an intensely uncompromising and powerful effect, which he describes as 'no half measures'.
These are 'Romantic' paintings, concerned with struggle, the 'sublime' and intense emotion. They are rooted in the artist's desire to experience more than the everyday and a frustration with the tedium of a highly mediated and disassociated world. He aligns himself with his historical heroes: Goya's sombre imaginings, Turner's evocations of elemental power and Bacon's existential despair. He sees them as fellow outsiders enacting a Nietzschean contest for mastery of the self. We see him as the mounted figure carving a path through a sea of paint.
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Richard HarrisonA Journey To A Star, 2021Oil and collage on linen36 x 48 in
91.5 x 122 cm -
Richard HarrisonDeep Freeze, 2021Oil on linen36 x 48 in
91.5 x 122 cm -
Richard HarrisonOn A Day Like Today, 2021Oil on linen60 x 72 in
152.5 x 183 cm -
Richard HarrisonWay Back When, 2021Oil, acrylic and sand on canvas71 x 48 in
180 x 122 cm -
Richard HarrisonLeft With Her Echo, 2020Oil on linen60 x 48 in
152.5 x 122 cm -
Richard HarrisonA Darkness I Keep To Myself, 2019oil and acrylic on canvas27 ½ x 26 in
70 x 65 cm -
Richard HarrisonAt The Water's Edge, 2019Oil and acrylic on linen63 x 59 in
160 x 150 cm -
Richard HarrisonThe Bather, 2019Oil and acrylic on canvas39 ½ x 35 ½ in
100 x 90 cm -
Richard HarrisonThe Fallen, 2019Oil and acrylic on canvas19 ¾ x 19 ¾ in
50 x 50 cm -
Richard HarrisonThere Was Winter In My Heart, 2019Oil and acrylic on linen63 x 71 in
160 x 180 cm -
Richard HarrisonTo Ride A White Horse, 2019Oil on linen40 x 36 in
101.5 x 91.5 cm -
Richard HarrisonDismay, 2018Oil, acrylic, pastel and charcoal on canvas35 ½ x 39 ½ in
90 x 100 cm -
Richard HarrisonThe Voyeur, 2018Oil, acrylic, pastel and charcoal on canvas39 ½ x 35 ½ in
100 x 90 cm -
Richard HarrisonMisty Mountain, 2015Oil on linen60 x 72 in
152.5 x 183 cm -
Richard HarrisonFrom the Deep, 2014Oil on canvas71 x 59 in
180 x 150 cm -
Richard HarrisonTrimline, 2014Oil, acrylic and collage on linen48 x 60 in
122 x 152.5 cm -
Richard HarrisonBreaking Wave, 2011Oil and acrylic on canvas35 ½ x 39 ½ in
90 x 100 cm -
Richard HarrisonPulsar, 2011Oil on canvas39 x 35 in
99 x 89 cm
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No Snow Birds Allowed
Art Miami Meets Tribeca 1 Dec 2023 - 27 Jan 2024Friedrichs Pontone is delighted to present a collective exhibition of works by Chris Rivers, Richard Harrison, Henry Jabbour, Im Jibin, Jae Yong Kim, Hwang Seontae and Choi Soowhan.Read more -
Richard Harrison
Elemental 13 Apr - 14 May 2023Friedrichs Pontone brings acclaimed British artist, Richard Harrison, to New York for his first one-man show at the gallery. This collection of paintings is an exciting introduction to Harrison's tempestuous...Read more
